We bought a Catalina with a deep fin keel, which lets keep the Catalina bashing to a minimum , and have loved the boat, at least until we can afford the 40' caliber....ok, thats a different thread. However, on several occasions where we have anchored overnight and there is a strong opposing tide/wind direction we swing all over the place, one night we were actually doing 360's for a while and I stayed up until slack tide making sure we didnt break free and drag across the anchorage. I did double anchor in a similiar situation with slightly reduced swinging but nothing to do a dance over, no pun intended. Same scenario using a kellet. I know we're underchained (only 10') and I already have a bucket of 30' of chain for next season. Will that make a significant difference? The swinging is the main frustration. I've read threads about this but guess I am looking for someone who has had this problem (and hoping there are more) and found a solid way of correcting most of it, not just people who have read the book on anchoring techniques...been there done that. I've debated on just throwing out a stern anchor if we get into this situation again but I am hoping there is a better answer..ie chain

Pay careful attention to what the current is doing and use a stern hook. But only if the bow is pointing into the current. Funny things happen if it is not.
In reality swinging around at anchorage is just a fact of life. Get an anchor that will tolerate multiple resets. Anchor someplace where you are free to swing 360 and tolerate a little dragging. Set the anchor alarm on your GPS, and maybe your depth alarm.
There are numerous threads here all about riding sails, chain lengths, and anchor selections. Type in "rocna" or "ancor latina" in the search for some interesting reads...

In an opposing wind/tide situation, most boats are going to be fairly squirrely at anchor... YOu don't say where you're sailing or what kind of anchor you're using.

If you were using a fluke-type anchor, yeah, you probably had a lot of reason to be worried, since they don't reset really well, and they don't deal with reversing current/tide/wind situations very well.

Your biggest problem was picking a bad anchorage IMHO... places where the wind and current oppose each other generally make for poor anchorages. Even using two anchors—bow and stern—really wouldn't help all that much, and if the wind really picked up and shifted, could leave you beam on to it, and get you into trouble.

BTW, you really need at least 30' of chain or so. Going all chain doesn't make much sense on most boats unless you're anchoring in very rocky or coral laden areas all the time.

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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A riding sail might have helped, but in some situation this is a fact of life and while you indeed could benefit from more chain and perhaps a quicker-setting anchor, the fact is that choosing a better spot when possible is your best bet, and thinking of your anchorage "zone" as a large circle in which your boat could be anywhere at some point is another.

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